Wow!!! I must gush for a moment...
Oct. 22nd, 2008 08:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beckerbunsToday I shopped at Walgreens, and got $41.01 worth of food and other necessities for $19.23. Later, I went to Safeway, and got $118.89 worth of groceries for a mere $59.69.
And how did I do it?
A blogging friend turned me on to The Grocery Game (thegrocerygame.com). Basically the people there compile the info for the stores in your area. For my zip code they have Safeway, Rite Aid, and Walgreens. I am just starting my 4 week free trial, which is nice to see if I'm really going to use it.
Basically they peruse the Sunday ads and coupons and each week they come up with a list of recommendations for each store, showing the prices and which coupons you should use. The idea is that you clip coupons for stuff you usually buy, each week, out of the Sunday paper. You save them and use them when they tell you to use them. Also, they have stuff out of those Easy Saver type rebate books in their recommendations. That's how I got the jumbo size of Pert shampoo for free (after rebate) today at Walgreens. Keep in mind, though, that the savings I accomplished today were done with hardly any coupons, as I only ordered the Sunday paper today! At Walgreens, I used four of the coupons from their weekly flyer (which you can get in the store) and at Safeway, I used one manufacturer's coupon that I printed off of the internet. Imagine the damage I could do if I had a stockpile of coupons!
The idea is that you stock up on stuff when it is cheap, and store it for when you need it. This assumes you have some storage space. I happen to have a chest freezer that I've been working on cleaning out, so I have room for the frozen stuff, and I just cleaned out my pantry closet so I could store all of the $1 cake mixes and $1.50 pasta that I bought today. So basically you are buying stuff you're going to use anyway, but you buy it when it's on sale, so that when you need it you have it and don't have to buy it at full price. There is a cycle of sales, so eventually you end up with everything you need for your pantry and freezer.
Does that make sense?
Anyway, I'm really having fun with it so far and I highly recommend it. If you want to try it, again it's thegrocerygame.com and if you're feeling generous you could put me as the referrer -- beckerbuns@gmail.com -- as that will get me some free weeks down the line.
Oh and after they start charging, after the free four-week trial, it's something like $.60 per week per store. Not bad considering I just saved almost $80 today!
Hope all that makes sense... I know I tend to ramble...
And how did I do it?
A blogging friend turned me on to The Grocery Game (thegrocerygame.com). Basically the people there compile the info for the stores in your area. For my zip code they have Safeway, Rite Aid, and Walgreens. I am just starting my 4 week free trial, which is nice to see if I'm really going to use it.
Basically they peruse the Sunday ads and coupons and each week they come up with a list of recommendations for each store, showing the prices and which coupons you should use. The idea is that you clip coupons for stuff you usually buy, each week, out of the Sunday paper. You save them and use them when they tell you to use them. Also, they have stuff out of those Easy Saver type rebate books in their recommendations. That's how I got the jumbo size of Pert shampoo for free (after rebate) today at Walgreens. Keep in mind, though, that the savings I accomplished today were done with hardly any coupons, as I only ordered the Sunday paper today! At Walgreens, I used four of the coupons from their weekly flyer (which you can get in the store) and at Safeway, I used one manufacturer's coupon that I printed off of the internet. Imagine the damage I could do if I had a stockpile of coupons!
The idea is that you stock up on stuff when it is cheap, and store it for when you need it. This assumes you have some storage space. I happen to have a chest freezer that I've been working on cleaning out, so I have room for the frozen stuff, and I just cleaned out my pantry closet so I could store all of the $1 cake mixes and $1.50 pasta that I bought today. So basically you are buying stuff you're going to use anyway, but you buy it when it's on sale, so that when you need it you have it and don't have to buy it at full price. There is a cycle of sales, so eventually you end up with everything you need for your pantry and freezer.
Does that make sense?
Anyway, I'm really having fun with it so far and I highly recommend it. If you want to try it, again it's thegrocerygame.com and if you're feeling generous you could put me as the referrer -- beckerbuns@gmail.com -- as that will get me some free weeks down the line.
Oh and after they start charging, after the free four-week trial, it's something like $.60 per week per store. Not bad considering I just saved almost $80 today!
Hope all that makes sense... I know I tend to ramble...
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no subject
Date: 2008-10-23 05:34 pm (UTC)I'm not sure I'd be willing to live without my freezer. At least not as long as I have children home. I really should use it better. As I could cut down the shopping expensive even more if I made enough for two meals and froze one. Keeping a list of course so it didn't go to waste.
I also plan meals from a week to three weeks in advance, keeping in mind what I have and what is likely to be on sale. So that limits how often I need to shop, and makes sure we don't eat out as often.
no subject
Date: 2008-10-23 05:59 pm (UTC)Perhaps on one of the weekends when Misty is with her dad, I could try some of it. Maybe not OAMC but maybe once-a-week cooking. :)
Here is a good link about OAMC:
http://www.frugalmom.net/once_a_month_cooking.htm
I can envision you getting the kids involved and making a weekend of it, doing up meals for a week or month! :)
no subject
Date: 2008-10-24 06:21 pm (UTC)For Thursdays I try very hard to do all the pre-work for dinner on Wednesdays. Like this week, while we got the Stir Fried Sweet Pork & grains done, I tossed everything for Thursdays in to the crock pot so all we had to do in the morning was take it out of the fridge and put it in the cooker. (note some people say you shouldn't store the food in the cooking base in the fridge, but another bowl and dump it in...) So when we got home Thursday I stirred the pot added a few spices and we had Chicken Vegetable on the table in 5 minutes. Tiger boy wanted noodles so he cooked some noodles but everyone was at the table and free to start eating.